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about whipping an incumbent congressman reveal at least a gleam of hope.
Speakers repeatedly made reference to recent Democratic victories that political pundits said couldn’t happen, citing Democratic winners from Chuck Robb to Douglas Wilder and Don Beyer.
Lt. Gov. Beyer, whose out-of-nowhere catapult to the Commonwealth’s second highest office may have inspired some of the hope in the room, was greeted with almost raucous enthusiasm as he delivered in person his message that “there’s virtually nothing we can’t do.”
Beyer conceded the Democratic challenger has an uphill fight, citing the familiar statistics of incumbency in Congress, in which 98 percent of members return in each election. “In 1988, more congressmen died in office than were beaten,” Beyer said.
But Beyer noted that turnover accumulates over the years, and said that he believes Slaughter can be defeated. “We have set our limits too tightly if we think we can’t win this congressional race in November,” Beyer said. “You should never try to find out how high a mountain is before you climb it. You’ll just get discouraged.”
“I’m completely confident that we’re going to win in November,” Beyer concluded.
Beyer’s speech was followed by nominations of candidates Smith and Robert E. Frazier. Frazier, a re
94.8%